Madison Keys opened her Grand Slam account at Australian Open 2025 by beating two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in a 6-2 2-6 7-5 thriller on Saturday night.
It came eight years after the soon-to-be 30-year-old made her lone other Grand Slam final, and two years after the American lost a heartbreaker to Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals.
The former teen prodigy wept tears of joy not long after slamming a forehand winner on a second match point at a captivated Rod Laver Arena.
“I have wanted this for so long,” said Keys as she clutched the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. “I’ve been in one other Grand Slam final and it didn’t go my way.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to get back to this position to try to win a trophy again.”
Despite the tough loss, Sabalenka showed humour during the trophy ceremony while addressing her team.
“As always, that’s your fault, guys. I don’t wanna see you for the next week,” said Sabalenka.
Drama turned out to be a recurring theme in the night session.
Later in the men’s doubles, Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten bagged their second Grand Slam title together by outlasting Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-7(16) 7-6(5) 6-3 in more than three hours.
The sixth seeds somehow regrouped after losing an 87-minute first set in which they held a staggering 10 set points against the third seeds.
Cliffhangers seem to be their thing in Grand Slam finals, having saved match points in last July’s Wimbledon climax against Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.
But the emotions were completely different for Bolelli and Vavassori, who have lost all three of their Grand Slam finals.
The potential future stars on tour were on display throughout the second week at Melbourne Park in the junior competition, with Wakana Sonobe and birthday boy Henry Bernet winning the girls’ and boys’ titles respectively on Saturday afternoon.
Sonobe became the first Japanese female to claim a junior Grand Slam singles crown since 1969 when the 17-year-old topped 15-year-old Kristina Penickova of the US, 6-0 6-1.
Eighth-seed Bernet, who turned 18, joined the list of Swiss junior Grand Slam champions that include Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka by defeating 17-year-old Benjamin Willwerth of the US, 6-3 6-4.
In the men’s wheelchair final, Alfie Hewett and Tokito Oda battled for the third straight year, splitting the first two meetings. Hewitt won this time, 6-4 6-4.
All the other wheelchair finals were won by the No.1 seeds.
In the women’s wheelchair event, Yui Kamiji of Japan beat Aniek van Koot 6-2 6-2 in their mammoth 70th meeting to collect a ninth major.
She improved to 4-0 against the Dutchwoman in Grand Slam finals.
Niels Vink stood on the cusp of history in the Quad Wheelchair category, needing a win against Sam Schroder to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
But in their all-Dutch final, Schroder wrote more history by winning a fourth straight Australian Open title, 7-6(7) 7-5.
Schroder – who had lost to Vink in 23 of their previous 35 matches – trailed 5-1 in the first.
Charlie Cooper of the US beat Alexander Lantermann of Belgium 6-2 6-2 in the boys’ wheelchair event, and Brazil’s Vitoria Miranda bettered the unseeded Sabina Czauz of the US in the girls’ showpiece, 0-6 6-3 7-6(4).